The field of the invention relates to beauty salon appliances and more particularly to a workstation including receptacles for storing beauty salon appliances safely and accessibly when not in use, and further having shortened power cords in conjunction with retractable extension cords to prevent the safety hazard of dangling electrical cords.
The operation of beauty salons typically requires the use of a significant number of hand held electrical appliances. Among other appliances, blow dryers and curling irons are commonly employed. When not actually in use, it is desirable that these appliances be kept safely stored in such a way that they are easily accessible and yet do not cause a safety hazard, as for example by exposing a heating element.
Various devices to organize and store beauty salon appliances are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,523 discloses an organizer for cordless hair salon utensils. The organizer includes a housing with a series of receptacles for hair salon utensils such as hair dryers and curling irons. Each of the receptacles is provided with a recharging plug. This patent, however, does not disclose any provision for extension cords since it discloses an organizer for rechargeable cordless appliances.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,773 discloses a tool hanger for supporting curling irons and blow dryers. U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 287,916 and 347,538 disclose brackets or holders for beauty salon utensils including curling irons and hair dryers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,371 discloses a portable salon unit including a movable cart with electrical supply.
None of these patents are directed to the problem of storing beauty shop appliances in such a way that dangling electrical cords are kept out of the way of the user. A similar problem in a different field of technology is addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,273 issued to McGaha on Sep. 19, 1978 for "Hand Piece Instrument Console Apparatus having Improved Mechanisms for Extending and Retracting Operating Flexible Hose." McGaha discloses an apparatus for holding dental or medical instruments. The invention includes a cabinet containing a number of mechanisms for retracting and extending the cords attached to the dental or medical instruments. In addition, this device provides a number of receptacles for holding the instruments when they are not in use. This apparatus is not specifically adapted to beauty salon appliances.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide for a beauty salon appliance workstation which is adapted to safely and accessibly store beauty salon utensils when not in use. It is a further object of the present invention to provide means to prevent the problem of dangling electrical cords which present a safety hazard and an inefficient working environment.